1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to communicating emergency messages and, in particular, to a system and method for generating and transmitting an emergency message through an integrated wireless communication network.
2. Related Art
Emergency messages are generated to indicate that a person is in need of assistance or that an emergency condition is present at property. The emergency message is transmitted to parties capable of rendering assistance.
One example of a conventional personal emergency message is a 911 telephone call. Emergency 911 telephone calls are quickly directed to switchboard operators who are trained to determine the nature of the emergency condition, to determine which type of assistance is required and who should provide the assistance (e.g. firemen, paramedics, police), and where the emergency assistance should be directed to such that the person making the 911 telephone call receives appropriate and timely assistance.
However, emergency 911 telephone calls are limited in the ability to obtain information from the caller requesting emergency assistance. First, the caller must be able to verbally communicate the nature of the emergency to the switchboard operator. Thus, additional information that may be important could, in some instances, not be available if the caller cannot talk or is having difficulty communicating. Second, location information can be determined if the telephone is a fixed location type device that can be traced to a known location or address. The location of Cellular and mobile telephones cannot be determined unless the caller is capable of telling the operator where the caller is calling from. Furthermore, in many situations, it would be advantageous to have access to other types of information regarding the person calling for emergency assistance. Some illustrative examples of such information includes persons to contact in an emergency, doctor's name, home address or allergies.
Another example of a conventional emergency message is an alarm from a home or business security system. Various automated detection devices sense conditions within the home or business, and summon emergency assistance in the event that one of the monitored parameter are violated. Examples include smoke detected by a smoke detector, opening of a door or window detected by a contact sensor, pressure detected by a pressure sensor, sound detected by a sound sensor, breaking of an infrared light beam detected by an infrared detector and/or motion detected by a motion sensor. Detection of a violation of a monitored parameter may indicate an emergency situation where emergency assistance should be provided to the monitored home or business. Additionally, there may be a personal help request device, such as a panic alarm, special entry code entered on a key pad, a touch button or the like that is configured to indicate that a person in the home or building requires emergency assistance.
However, such conventional home or business security systems are not secure in that such conventional systems communicate with the security monitoring personnel over a conventional telephone system. Thus, damage to the serving telephone system may prevent delivery of the emergency message. For example, an intruder may sever the telephone lines prior to entry into the home or business. Or, a fire may disable the outside phone lines before the fire spreads into the home or building.
Also, such conventional home or business security systems are labor intensive and expensive to install. Hard wire connections are installed between each detecting device and a central security control box. The control box, coupled to the telephone system, is configured to dial up the security monitoring personnel to request emergency assistance when one of the detectors detects a violation of the monitored criteria. Therefore, many hours of installation labor is required to install even a relatively simple home or business security system.
Additionally, such conventional home or business security systems are not automatically configured to contact selected persons when one of the detectors detects a violation of the monitored parameter. Some security monitoring services do call predefined telephone numbers to notify a person of the request for emergency assistance. For example, a homeowner may be called at work by the person monitoring the security system. However, if the homeowner is not at the work telephone, the homeowner may not be timely notified.
Furthermore, such conventional home or business security systems are not configured to receive and respond to remote communications from the homeowner or business employee. For example, the homeowner may desire to authorize a new security password on a temporary basis. Or, the homeowner may desire to remotely deactivate (or activate) the security system rather than having to enter the home to manually enter, via a keyboard, the security password. Furthermore, such passwords must be manually entered within a limited time period (otherwise, an intrusion into the home is assumed). The limited time provided for entering the security code may be particularly inconvenient when the person is bringing into the house (or removing from the house) a number of items, such as boxes, packages, furniture and/or children.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry for providing an emergency message system that more accurately indicates the nature, location and other pertinent information of an emergency situation. Also, there is a heretofore unaddressed need in the industry to provide a less expensive to install emergency message home or business security system. Also, there is a heretofore unaddressed need to provide a more convenient and effective emergency message system.